For most aviators, air racing is on the Bucket List, somewhere between flying into AirVenture and getting a seaplane rating. The Sport Air Racing League can help you cross that one off the list — and you don’t need a special airplane to do it.

The 38th Air Race Classic will begin accepting entries Jan. 2 for the annual transcontinental air race. More than 100 female pilots compete each year.

The Air Race Classic, Inc. (ARC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating current and future women pilots while increasing public awareness of general aviation.

The annual ARC attracts competitors from all ages and regions of the world. In 2013, there were pilots from Kosovo, Japan and Italy who joined US pilots in the four-day air race challenge.

Michelle Bassanesi originally from Sydney, Australia, now living in Rome, Italy, competed in her first ARC with teammate, Gretchen Jahn of Broomfield, Colo., in 2013. The pilots met years ago while participating in the Around New Zealand Air Race (ANZAR). After several years, the two collaborated and decided to compete in the ARC. This marked Jahn’s 17th year to compete in the ARC.

The collaboration proved successful as their team, The Dream Catchers, were Reserve Champions in the race.

The 2014 route will begin in Concord, Calif., on June 16, 2014, and ends in New Cumberland, Pa., three days later with 2,300-plus nautical miles in between. The route changes every year and is a highlight of the year for the female aviators.

OSHKOSH — The winners have been announced for the 16th Annual EAA AirVenture Cup cross-country air race. The fastest aircraft of the day was a Turbine Legend, flown by Marty Abbott who came in at a time of 1:17:55 and an average speed of 354.30 mph.

Entries for the 2013 Air Race Classic started coming in at noon on Jan. 2, when entries for this year’s race were opened. Over the past two months, 80% of the available racer slots have been claimed. Entries will be accepted until April 1, but the opportunity may not last that long, if all 55 race team slots are filled before then.

With Reno just days away, here’s a way for every pilot to get involved in sport air racing…

Looking for away to practice your airmanship but tired of the $100 hamburger? Maybe it’s time to enter the world of sport air racing.

You don’t need to have a lot of money, a highly modified airplane, or even a great deal of technical skill to compete in these cross-country races.

“The fastest airplane wins,” explains Red Hamilton, a long-time air racer and member of the Sport Air Racing League (SARL). “It’s not like the Reno Air Races where you go around and around pylons. It is cross country air racing. There are turn points along the course. It’s racing for the rest of us.”

Pilots Dianna Stanger of Port Lavaca, Texas, and Victoria Holt of Belton, Texas, are already in preparation for the 36th Annual Air Race Classic (ARC). The duo, who make up the Racing Aces team, will be flying a Cirrus Special Edition SR22.